Rainy Jane
by BrerRabbit2011
Summary: Jane has been running for a very long time, but from what? Can her newfound friends save her?
1. 1 Someday Man

He ran, faster than he had ever run before.

The rain ripped through his clothes, soaking him to the bone, still he ran.

_Faster,_ he thought, _FASTER!_

_How had it turned out like this? How had he turned out this way?_

He stumbled, stopping as he tried to catch his breath before turning his tall lanky frame slowly around to face his now-decided fate.

A shot rang out from the rain-blurred fog beyond.

No one was there to witness his cry, or see him fall to his knees in agony.

No one saw him as he lay in the mud, the rain washing away the blood from the hole in his chest.

_Alone,_ he thought, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

_I am going to die here, alone..._

_This can't be how it ends. _

His consciousness slipped through the cracks in his vision like the blood through his fingers as he tried in vain to cover his wound and thought of her.

_Jane..._


	2. 2 I Wanna Be Free

Jane Harmond woke with a start, scrunching her eyes at the bright morning light streaming through the window. She looked around, taking in her surroundings, as she did every morning. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she rose with a sigh, only to sit at the vanity in her meagre apartment. She counted strokes as she brushed through her long light brown hair.

Her gaze turned to the window ledge, admiring how full the small box of flowers hung outside now were. A small bird landed on the ledge and started rummaging through the dirt surrounding her makeshift garden, looking for worms. Not waiting to see the outcome of it's success, Jane made her way to her small closet, rummaging around until she found what she was looking for. She stared at the bell bottoms and shirt with smug satisfaction. The bright paisley shirt and the faded denim went great with the brand new Nehru jacket she had purchased. Smiling, she donned the ensemble, and adding her favourite moccasin boots, headed out the door.

The warm morning sun washed over Jane's face as she stepped outside. Summer was her favourite time of year. She walked with a bounce in her step to her place of employment – the local flower shop. Upon entering "Ann's Flower Shop" –even though no one that worked there was named Ann- She was greeted by her best friend, Linda.

" Good morning lazy Jane! How are you?"

"Wonderful darling, how have you been? Up before the sun again I assume?"

Jane replied jokingly. This had been her and Linda's traditional morning greeting since they met at the shop three years ago, when Jane came in late to her first day of work.

Linda was the typical wing-girl, always there to back her friend's crazy schemes-the last of which resulted in their spending the night in prison for protesting.

"Hey Jane? The boss left an envelope for you on the register." Linda said after grabbing them both some fruit from the small bowl behind the counter.

"What do you suppose it is?"

"How should I know?" Linda responded, "open it and find out!"

Jane ripped open the envelope, eager to see its contents. She frowned when she realized it not a bonus paycheck, but a small note folded in half.

"Aw man, I thought for sure Mr. Green was going to give me a bonus, I've been hinting at it for weeks!" Jane sighed, and picked up the note and read it.

The small paper contained only two lines of writing, but two was quite enough to draw the color from her face. Linda noticed the sudden paleness in her friends face and motioned her to a chair. "Jane? What's going on? Are you okay?" she asked, reaching for the note still clutched in Jane's hand.

With a swiftness she didn't know she possessed, Jane stood up and ran out the door, leaving Linda in her wake.

She ran, all the way back to her apartment, running up the steps and inserting her key, she ran around, grabbing essential travel items, a few cans of food, what little cash she had, and a few items of clothing. She left three years hard work and friendship that day. Locking the door, Jane took a few steps back and observed the note she was still holding in her white knuckled hand.

"I found you Jane.

This time you will not escape me."

Holding back tears, Jane took a small lighter out of her purse, lit the note on fire and tossed it in a nearby garbage bin. Looking all around her, she took off heading west, hoping that she could outrun him, and finally have some peace.


	3. 3 Last Train to Clarksville

_Hey guys! Thank you so much to EveningAtHornersCorners for your great input! Please read and review, It means alot! Enjoy._

She had been walking for hours now, still checking over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.

Around two in the afternoon she finally stopped, exhausted, and pulled out a map of California – the big colorful one she purchased on her arrival to the state three years prior- and unfolding it, closed her eyes and pointed at a random spot. She opened her eyes to see that she had landed on a small beachfront area, with a road leading past called "Beachwood" in Malibu, only a day's hike from where she now stood. She allowed herself an actual smile for the first time that afternoon, momentarily forgetting her plight as she imagined herself swimming and surfing in the sun all day long, no troubles or cares. She decided to keep that blissful state of mind as she packed the map back up, and headed off once again, to her new home.

Jane walked all through the night, not daring to stop for more than a few moments at a time to rest. She came to realize, much to her dismay, that having packed all canned food, and no can opener, she would go without dinner that night. Finally, at the break of dawn, she could take it no longer, having worn herself out, and she settled down on the side of the road in a group of trees to sleep.

_I found you Jane. This time you will NOT escape me._

Jane sat straight up, knocking her head on the branch of a particularly hard apple tree. She rubbed her head as her thoughts collected back to her.

It was just a dream.

They hadn't found her.

She was safe.

For now.

Banishing that last thought from her head, she stood- careful not to hit any more branches- and picked up her bag, heading off to find food.

As much as she wanted to save the few measly dollars she possessed, Jane decided food was more important at the moment. She only had to walk a few miles before she came upon the quaint little town of Clarksville. She made a beeline for the nearest diner, aptly named "The Clarksville Diner" and went into their restroom. She glanced into the mirror at her rather dishevelled appearance, grimacing as she fought to untangle the twigs from her previous sleeping arrangement from her hair. She took her brush out of her bag, thanking the Lord that she at least thought to bring one, and giving her hair a quick brush to make it more presentable, decided that a change of clothes would be in order as well. A full fifteen minutes later she emerged from the lavatory, feeling and looking refreshed. She sat down at the counter, and ordered a hamburger, fries and a coca-cola.

Her food arrived, and Jane gave a relaxed sigh, food had never smelled this good.

After her breakfast/dinner- seeing as how it was 5pm when she got there- Jane decided to plow on through the night, as she was merely 4 hours walk from her destination. It had grown dark, and more than a bit chilly since Jane had left the diner an hour ago. Fishing out a jacket from her bag, she donned it, wondering aloud if it was going to rain. As if the sky itself was against her, at that precise moment, the skies opened up and she was bombarded with rain. Ignoring it, she pressed on, more determined now than ever to make it to Malibu.

The rain continued to pour, and after realizing it would take her twice as long as she planned to walk that night, she gave up. Jerking her thumb toward Malibu, she attempted to flag down a car. As a rule Jane never hitchhiked, you never knew how safe it was, but measured against how wet and cold it was, she figured she could bend the rules just this once. Few cars were out in what now seemed typhoon-worthy weather, and Jane had only encountered two cars, neither of which had wanted to pick up a soaking wet person in the middle of the night.

She had all but gave up for the second time that night, already searching for a small cove of trees she could stay dry under when a pair of headlights shone on her.

Ignoring her immediate panic of being run into, she turned around, realizing the car had been parked on the shoulder of the road. Two figures emerged, one short and one of average height. Jane couldn't make out more than that due to the glare of the lights. She squinted, trying to size up these strangers before approaching.

"Excuse me, miss?" The short one called to her, his voice sounding slightly accented and muffled in the din of the rain. Jane mustered up her courage and shouted back

"Yes?"

"Well, it seems a bit wet out, would you like a ride?"

Jane tried to sound as indifferent as she could, replying, "Depends, where are you going?" She was a woman after all, and women do have their pride- even when it has been dampened by buckets of rain.

The second man shouted this time, "We live in Malibu, we're headed back now."

Jane, still unable to see the two men, but excited about their present course, nodded. "Then I would love a ride."

Without further haste, the short man opened the car door, the taller one came over and picked up Jane's bag, smiling at her in the dark. She could make out sandy blond hair, longish, and a really cute dimple on the face of this man. They piled into the car and headed off into the night.

_What do you think? Who do you suppose she met? :)_


	4. 4 She

They sat in silence for a few moments, each trying to ward off the chill of their now-wet clothing, before the short one spoke up. "So, miss?"

Jane looked up from her lap, "Hm? Oh, I'm Jane," She said, "Jane-" she trailed off for a moment, not sure if she wanted to completely trust these strangers with her identity, "Polk."

They seemed to buy it, because the sandy haired one smiled at her and stuck out his hand from the front seat, "Peter Tork, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Polk. This is my friend Davy Jones."

Jane shook Peter's hand, and cocked her head at the back of Davy's head. "Like Davy Jones' Locker?" She giggled.

Davy tried to look cross in the rearview window, "No!' he cried, before smirking, " I use a cupboard."

Peter started to giggle under his breath, and Jane, finding herself rather quickly feeling comfortable among these two, let out a snort. This sent them all into a round of laughter, the dismal night forgotten as they drove down the highway in their mirth.

"So Jane," Davy said, sobering up a bit, "What's a girl like you doing out on a night like this?"

"Looking for strange boys with cars to hijack." She replied quickly, wanting to stay away from that topic. Peter took her seriously, looking for a moment at Davy, then her with panic in his eyes. "Peter I think she's joking." Davy said with a pat on Peter's shoulder. Peter eyed Jane sceptically before talking. "Stranger things have happened than a female car-jacker David, this is California."

"I was joking Peter, I can vouch for the fact that I have never in my life stolen a car." Jane said, _well, except for that one time a few years ago, _she thought. She decided not to mention it though, and as they arrived in Malibu she became distracted by the scenery. Never knowing how long she could stay somewhere had more than re-enforced her appreciation for feeling familiar with each place she went. She was just imagining herself walking down the street, meeting people, singing, when her thoughts were yet again interrupted by Davy, who parked the car in the driveway of a funny looking two story beach house. Even in the dark Jane could feel the charm of this ramshackle little place. The feeling reminded her of the time she went to see the circus with her mom as a child.

"-come in for a while?" Davy was facing her now, with a look of question on his face mirrored by Peter as they looked at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Jane asked, embarrassed at being so rude to them.

"He said, would you like to come in for a while?" Peter repeated for her.

"You know, seeing as how you were out in the rain so long, we thought maybe you would want to dry off for a while." Davy said.

"Oh," was all Jane could say, "Well, it is awfully late, I really should be going you know." After all, taking a ride from strangers was one thing, going into a strange house seemed to be asking for trouble. Once again, as if the sky were against her, there came a loud crack, followed by a crash, then silence.

"What was that?" Jane yelped, looking all around for the source of the noise.

"It appears that rotten old tree of Mr. Babbitt's finally fell." Peter said, climbing out of the car. "I don't think you can go anywhere tonight Miss Jane, the tree is blocking the whole driveway."

"I can walk." She countered.

"Not in this weather sweetheart!" Davy said, opening her door to help her out. "No one in their right mind would be open tonight, hotel or otherwise. Just come in for a while, I can drive you home as soon as we can get out and clear that tree."

Jane thought about it, and shivered as she realized just how cold she was, before giving in for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. "Okay, but just for a little while."

They no sooner got in the door and had her sit on the backless couch of their living room before she fell asleep. Davy and Peter chuckled to themselves before looking at each other, who was this girl? As if in answer, she started snoring lightly, pausing once to sneeze. Davy tiptoed to the closet and grabbed a pillow while Peter took her dripping boots off, and covered her with a blanket.

They snuck off to their room whispering in hushed tones.

"Think Mike and Micky will mind us letting a girl spend the night?" Peter asked as he squirmed into his bunny pajamas.

"You kidding? Of course not! Mike might kill me for getting the inside of the Monkeemobile wet though." Davy mused, changing into his pajamas as well.

"I won't tell him if you won't." Peter said.

"Deal."

And with that, they went to bed, and the little beach house was silent.

Except for the faint sound of snoring coming from the backless couch in the living room.


	5. 5 St Matthew

"Hey these are nice boots." Someone said.

"Yeah, where do you suppose-" The other stopped short.

"Suppose what Mike?" the first asked.

"Micky, why is there a girl on our couch?" Mike inquired.

"I dunno." Micky replied, "PETER! DAVY! WHY IS THERE A GIRL ON OUR COUhph!?" He yelled, before having a hand slapped over his mouth.

"Hey cool it man! We don't want her waking up to you yelling."

"Sorry Davy." Micky whispered, turning to face his friend. "But what is she doing on the couch?"

"Well you didn't expect her to sleep on the floor now did you?" Davy said, moving toward the icebox to scrounge up some breakfast.

"Where did you meet her?" Micky asked, searching the bare cupboards as he spoke.

"We picked her up last night, she was wandering on the side of the road in the rain." Peter said, coming up next to Mike, who then asked the obvious question,

"Well who is she?"

Davy sighed as he pulled out a jar of pickles and some orange juice- the only things left in the fridge after their last paycheck. "Her name is Jane Polk. Funny girl that one is." He said, sitting down at the table, "Like Peter said, we found her on the side of the road. In the middle of that monsoon last night, and she nearly didn't come with us! She could have caught her death of cold you know."

"Wait a second, she was soaking wet on my brand new leather seats?" Mike asked, not sure if he liked where this was going.

Peter looked at Davy, who shrugged, "Listen fellas," He started, ignoring Mike's inquiry altogether, "She seems like a nice girl, so when she wakes up, don't pester her okay? She probably feels weird enough spending the night at our house as it is."

"Hey man, that's another thing, why didn't you and Pete just take her where she wanted to go last night? I mean, why keep her here?" Micky asked, sliding into the seat next to Davy, hungrily grabbing at the pickle jar.

"Well, you remember that old tree in Mr. Babbit's yard? We stopped here last night, and before we had a chance to take her to her place, it fell onto our driveway. I couldn't very well send her on her way on foot now could I? Besides, she was exhausted and so were we."

Peter nodded to Micky and Mike, then looked over their shoulders to the couch.

"Hey guys?" he asked. No one answered so he asked again, "Guys?"

"What Peter?" they asked in unison.

"Where did Jane go?"

They all turned now, and noticed that indeed Jane was gone. This started a frantic search under every pillow and around every piece of furniture in the pad, each calling her name.

"Fellas! Wait a second. She might have gone on her way already let's just drop it." Mike said, wondering how she had snuck out without anyone noticing.


	6. 6 Heart and Soul

Jane wandered down the beach, feeling the sand squish between her toes. She had long since abandoned her socks, having walked since dawn. She had contemplated going back for her boots, they really were her favorite boots, but decided against it, seeing as how that would require going back to Davy and Peter's house. She did like them, but no need to get them in trouble for what was following her. She signed, taking a deep breath of the salty ocean air, the sound of seagulls crying above her. After waking up multiple times last night, scared she had been caught, Jane figured just moving on to a different place entirely would be in order.

Davy and Peter however, had taken Jane's disappearance as the new adventure of the day. They had immediately noticed that her boots were still sitting where they had been set the night before, and no one, they decided, should be without shoes, especially ones that groovy.

"Miiikke, We have to go and find her! These are probably her only shoes, she was on the streets when we found her ya know." Davy protested as he cleaned up from breakfast, grimacing as he cleaned up spilled pickle juice from the table.

"Davy's right Mike, I think she was homeless, she was only carrying one bag." Peter put in from his place on the living room chair. He was worried about Jane, as he had been the one to notice that she forgot her boots.

"Come on you guys, if she comes back for her shoes, that's great." Mike paused, looking up from the newspaper he had been scouring for their next potential gig. "but if she doesn't, we can't go looking all over God's green earth for one girl. She must have had a reason for leaving like that. Just let it be."

It wasn't as if He didn't care, but Mike knew that when they went in search for things, he and his friends often got in more trouble than they bargained for.

Micky jumped down from the staircase's spiral banister, "Mike I think we should go man, I mean, it sounds like fun. Maybe this girl Janet is a groovy girl, and needs her boots!"

"Jane" Peter corrected excitedly as he stood from his spot and crossed the room and grabbed his umbrella. "Besides Mike, what are we going to do sitting around all day? The Monkeemobile is still stuck until Mr. Babbit gets it taken down."

With that, He, Davy and Micky grabbed their coats and waited by the door. Mike made an exaggerated sigh, inwardly smiling at his friends' kind hearts. He scooped the boots up, and donning his coat, headed out the door with his friends.

Jane noticed the wind picking up again as she walked toward the main road adjacent to the beachfront. The waves were growing larger and more rough as the morning went on, and she thought it would be safer to walk on the road for a while. As soon as her bare feet hit the pavement, she realized her position. While she had been walking on the beach, distracted by the water, she had inadvertently walked past the town of Malibu and was now in the middle of nowhere. The patch of road she was on looked relatively old and unused. She scolded herself for not paying attention, and pulled out her map to figure out where she was.


End file.
